It is capped at 2%. The second cap is CPI. Basically, there is a cap of whatever the inflation rate is. The inflation rate is forecast to be 2%, on average, for the next number of years. It is also the focus of the ECB to keep inflation at 2%.
TDs / Micheál Martin
Micheál Martin
Taoiseach
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
0
questions asked
Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them
688,766
words spoken in the chamber
686,628 as a minister, 2,138 as a TD
197
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
From the Dáil chamber only: committee meetings are not in this archive.
Members of the Government answer parliamentary questions rather than ask them, so this page lists none of theirs.
Month by month
Low months are usually recesses, when the Dáil does not sit. The archive runs to 22 October 2026.
Contributions to debates 6,546 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Contributions |
|---|---|
| December 2024 | 11 |
| January 2025 | 6 |
| February 2025 | 438 |
| March 2025 | 518 |
| April 2025 | 317 |
| May 2025 | 426 |
| June 2025 | 424 |
| July 2025 | 344 |
| August 2025 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 146 |
| October 2025 | 375 |
| November 2025 | 291 |
| December 2025 | 281 |
| January 2026 | 326 |
| February 2026 | 529 |
| March 2026 | 229 |
| April 2026 | 385 |
| May 2026 | 474 |
| June 2026 | 425 |
| July 2026 | 181 |
| August 2026 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 198 |
| October 2026 | 222 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 6,426 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Cork South-Central 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fianna Fáil 29 November 2024 to now
- office Taoiseach 23 January 2025 to now
If we do not tie it to CPI and freeze it as the Deputy is saying, why would anyone invest in any new apartment block? Why would anyone build a new house or a new apartment for rent if effectively they would begin to lose money within a couple of years? No one is going to make an investment decision on the basis, as the Deputy is proposing, that we have a rent freeze for three years or longer. No one is going to inves…
We are extending it, making it national and giving stronger protections than tenants had before this package, which will be legislated for, was announced.
That is what I said.
You deliberately-----
It is interesting that in the exchange the Deputy acknowledged that it is new tenancies.
I have been saying since I came in that existing tenants would not have their rents increased beyond 2% as per the RPZ.
The Deputies are interrupting because they do not like the facts. The bottom line in respect of new tenancies is yes, in respect of tenancies where the tenant has left so the tenant does not get exorbitant increases. The balance here is that we need more investment into the market. I know the Deputy does not really believe in that.
The Deputy believes it should be the State in its entirety. That is a fundamental difference. I argue that if we were to take the Deputy's policies, we would have no new supply at all. That is a fundamental difference. I acknowledge that. The Deputy does not believe in a market-based economy. That is his position.
I happen to believe in a balanced economic framework where you have public sector investment, and we have unprecedented levels of State investment. However, you will need private sector investment to get the level of investment we require. I do not think the State can sustainably spend €20 billion per annum on housing alone. That will not suffice. I do not think the people want that sort of approach either.
These figures are serious and of concern but they are from 2023, the year the data was collected. The Government had not yet, at that stage, brought in free school meals for all primary school students or free schoolbooks at second level. I am sure the Deputy would acknowledge these measures have had a significant impact on many families and are making a real difference to children in poverty, but we have to do more.…
At the weekend, I was in Nice for the United Nations Ocean Conference and took the opportunity to meet with a number of people in respect of this issue. The crew of the Madleen deserve our recognition. I pay tribute to their bravery and courage for profiling and keeping in the public and international spotlight the shocking situation in Gaza and the deprivation and starvation there. It brings to mind the absolute nec…
I hope we can leverage significant international support for pressure to be put on Israel.
Then there will be the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting after that and then an European Council meeting-----
The reference to complicity in genocide is shocking and wrong. I genuinely mean that.
I do not in any way underestimate the Deputy’s sincerity on this issue. I respect it. She has been very consistent on this, but it is wrong to say others in this House are complicit in genocide when they most certainly are not.
It is a phrase that is thrown around too cheaply, and violence and criminal acts can emanate from that. Certain people are already engaging in criminal damage of TDs' offices and the Department of foreign affairs because of that handy phrase used to label everybody as complicit in genocide. Ireland is doing everything it possibly can on the key platforms for us to try to put pressure on Israel. What Israel is doing i…
The legislation last week would have done nothing to change that.
The Central Bank may be in a position over time to do something.
There may be a route there, but that in itself is not going to change what is happening now.
I do not want to be facetious but under the triple lock arrangements at the moment, it would not be possible for the Naval Service to go overseas. In any event, I applaud the crew of the Madleen-----
-----because they acknowledged themselves that it was a symbolic gesture.
As the King of Jordan said to me at the weekend, we need trucks and trucks of aid, not drops. We need absolute, unimpeded aid going into Gaza at huge scale. On the other hand-----
He has, actually and in fact, the European Union remains the largest donor to Palestine and the Palestinians. Apart from all that, the international community, particularly the EU-Israeli association agreement, is something we have to focus on. That would have impact. As I mentioned in response to Deputy Bacik before I ran out of time, the Foreign Affairs Council will be meeting the week after the UN conference, and …
We will do everything we can to endeavour to get an outcome in respect of the EU-Israeli association agreement. It will be difficult, because a lot of countries in Europe do not have the same mindset that we do.